HARMAN To Debut Crown HiQnet Band Manager™ 2 At NAMM

ANAHEIM, California – In an introduction that provides audio professionals, musicians and enthusiasts with advanced system set up and design capabilities coupled with a highly intuitive user interface, HARMAN Professional today introduced Crown HiQnet Band Managerâ„¢ 2 at the 2012 Winter NAMM Expo. In doing so, the company is providing the broad community of musicians, DJs, venue owners and managers with access to better sound through sophisticated system integration and optimization technologies but also via a highly evolved user interface that is reliable, comprehensive and easy to navigate. According to Andy Flint, Business Segment Manager Portable PA, Crown Audio, today's introduction will make DJs, engineers and audio rental professionals more efficient and effective at their job and will enable musicians, venue owners and managers to enjoy better performance — and better value — from their systems investment.

“If you're going to invest in an audio system and you're genuinely interested in getting the best possible sound for your business or performance, then HiQnet Band Manager 2 is a must-have,” Flint said today. “HiQnet makes great systems sound even better without the hassle, without the programming and without the requisite setup time that traditionally comes with preparing for a gig!”

HARMAN HiQnet Band Manager is an iteration of HARMAN's industry-leading HiQnet system configuration and control protocol. The core systems integration and connectivity capabilities of HARMAN HiQnet have been customized and packaged for the systems integration, tour sound and MI markets respectively in HiQnet System Architectâ„¢; HiQnet London Architectâ„¢, JBL HiQnet Performance Managerâ„¢ and Crown HiQnet BandManager 2.

Band Manager 2 will include control and monitoring for Crown Audio's XTi 2 product line. Users will be able to manage up to eight XTi 2 amplifiers via quick and simple USB interface. Crown will also have a brand new set of JBL presets for the XTi 2 product line that take full advantage of the enhanced processing and Peakx Plusâ„¢ limiters. HiQnet Band Manager 2 will also include presets for all the JBL JRX, MRX, SRX, and VRX product families and continued support for the original XTi Series, now discontinued.

It's not surprising, therefore, that HiQnet Band Manager 2 boasts the performance firepower of highly evolved systems but Flint is quick to point out that this in itself presented a considerable challenge in making HiQnet Band Manager 2 usable for the broadest community of users. “Our first challenge in making HiQnet Band Manager valuable was first to make it accessible,” Flint notes. “We worked closely with target end-users and also modeled it on a browser paradigm and some good ideas from consumer interfaces to make Band Manager 2 easy to understand and quick to learn. We put this front-end on a powerful, scalable engine and we're offering it for free. This adds up to a very accessible, attractive proposition and I encourage NAMM goers and interested parties everywhere to download Band Manager 2 and try it for themselves.”

“No other manufacturer can offer this scale of integration, system performance or price leadership,” Flint adds. “In today's challenging economy, we're not simply giving more — we're also empowering MI customers everywhere to demand more of their systems and system manufacturers! In meeting with customers and dealers around the globe, I am consistently told that the investment that HARMAN made in developing HiQnet has paid a considerable efficiency dividend to our end-users in how they do their job and craft their art. We're equally grateful for their input, ideas and adoption and we look forward to Band Manager 2 extending the franchise and usefulness to new communities going forward.”

HARMAN HiQnetâ„¢ is the world's first connectivity and control protocol that integrates all product categories in the signal chain for professional audio systems of all types, size, and applications. HARMAN HiQnet no longer requires the user to manage multiple disparate operating systems or be responsible for programming individual signal processors, speaker controllers, wireless microphone systems, and mixing consoles. HiQnet was developed by engineers from across HARMAN's Professional Division and is coordinated by the System Development and Integration Group (SDIG), a team of dedicated systems specialists based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 12,500 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.0 billion for twelve months ending September 30, 2011.